The group, founded in 1982 by Marc Minkowski, one of the young conductors of today, has particularly acclaimed for their recordings of rarely performed operas of Gluck, Rameau and Lully, the ensemble was rewarded with very prestigious awards like Diaposon d'Or and Orphee d'Or for these recordings.

Marc Minkowski started his music education, playing bassoon and after performing with Les Arts Florissants for some time went on with conducting education. Today, Minkowski is regarded as a leading conductor among his generation with his performance of Baroque and Classical period.

French conductor Marc Minkowski is in demand throughout the world. He is particularly known for his outstanding successes in the field of opera, for his concerts and for his work with Les Musiciens du Louvre- Grenoble. He appears regularly at the Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence Festivals, at the Op©ra de Paris and at the Th©¢tre du Ch¢telet.

Marc Minkowski began his career as a bassoonist before studying with Charles Bruck at the Pierre Montreux Conducting School (USA). In 1982, he founded the period- instrument ensemble Les Musiciens du Louvre. Together with this ensemble Marc Minkowski has achieved international success both in concerts and recordings. He has been instrumental in the revival and recording of many rare operas by Gluck (Armide, Alceste and Iphig©nie en Tauride), Rameau (Hyppolyte et Aricie) and Lully (Pha©ton).

He made his debut at the Op©ra Bastille with Mozart's Idomeneo in 1996 and his appearance at the Salzburg Festival in 1997, with a new production of Mozart's Entführung auf dem Serail. For Vlaamse Oper he has conducted Haendel's Semele, Massenet's Cendrillon, Mozart's Idomeneo and Weber's Oberon. Other appearances include Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer for the Nationale Reis Opera, Rameau's Plat©e at the Op©ra de Paris and at the Salzburg Festival, a European tour of Gluck's Iphig©nieen Tauride, Monteverdi's l'Incoronazione di Poppea at the Aix- en- Provence Festival and at the Wiener Fetowchen, his debut at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, with Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable, Massenet's Manon in Monte Carlo.

In recent seasons he has conducted Orchestra Philharmonique de Radio France, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, DSO Berlin, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra National de France. He has also conducted Offenbach's Belle H©l©ne at the Th©¢tre du Ch¢telet, Ariodante at the Op©ra de Paris, Pell©nas at M©lisande with the Gewandhaus Orchestra at the Oper Leipzig,returned to Aix-en- Provence to conduct a new production of Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermus at the Salzburg Festival and Haendel's Giulio Cesare at Netherlands Opera. He has also toured and recorded Gluck's Orphee with Les Musiciens du Louvre.

In 1982 Marc Minkowski founded the Musiciens du Louvre and since 1987 they have been recognized as one of the leading European period- instrument groups.

The group opened the 2000-2001 season at the Paris Th©¢tre du Ch¢telet with a performance of Offenbach's La Belle H©l©ne with Felicity Lott, staged by Laurent Pelly, which was also performed in concert at London's Barbican Center and at the Cologne Phillarmonic. After presenting Rameau's Plate© again in Geneva, Bordeaux, Metz and Montpellier, they performed six of Haendel's opus 6 Concerti grossi and a new production of his Ariodante, with Anne- Sofie von Otter at the Paris Opera, Dresden Semper Oper and the Salzburg Festival.

In 2001-2002, they performed a new production of Haendel's Giulio Cesare at the Amsterdam Opera, and revivals of La Belle H©l©ne at the Th©¢tre du Ch¢telet and Plat©e at the Op©ra de Paris. They worked with Anne- Sofie von Otter for a tribute to Offenbach, also at the Th©¢tre du Ch¢telet (and made a recording for Archiv Produktion- DG, just published), and for a Rameau- Bach Haendel tour throughout Europe and USA. In addition, they presented the third part of their Gluck cycle, Orph©e et Eurydice, in concert throughout Europe, and recorded this work for Archiv Produktion- DG.

They received two prizes at the Victoires 2001 de la Musique Classique et Jazz (the French equivalent of the Grammies): the best orchestra, and best lyric production, for La Belle H©l©ne at the Th©¢tre du Ch¢telet.

In 2002-2003, they opened the season of Paris Opera with Haendel's Giulio Cesare followed by a series of concerts in Europe (Frankfurt, Brussels, Valladolid) including a live recording for Archiv Produktion in Vienna.

Siemens, who has a reputable history in Turkey, continues to support culture and art activities as a tradition. Culture and art events, a reflector of the development stage, which the country is at, match with the expectations of the society and contribute its development.